10 rules we follow on every client account. No theory. All tested in production.
Each of these comes from running campaigns across dozens of accounts. They apply to every ESP and every list size.
Use a human name in the "from" field, not "noreply" or a generic brand handle. Recipients open emails from people they recognize. A real name builds trust and lifts open rates by 10-20% in most tests we run.
Mobile screens cut off subject lines after about 35-40 characters. Aim for under 50 to stay safe. Front-load the most important words. Drop filler words and get to the point fast.
Change the subject line or the CTA or the send time. Not all three at once. When you test multiple things in a single A/B split, you have no idea what caused the difference. Isolate the variable. Log the result. Move on to the next test.
Remove hard bounces immediately. Suppress contacts who have not opened or clicked in 90 days. Dead addresses drag down your sender reputation and increase the chance of landing in spam. A smaller, active list outperforms a bloated one every time.
Do not send a single campaign until your DNS authentication is correct. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC tell inbox providers your emails are legitimate. Without them, even good content ends up in spam. This is step one on every new account we touch.
Demographics give you a starting point. Engagement data tells you who is paying attention right now. Segment by open recency, click frequency, and purchase history. Send your best offers to the most active contacts first.
Pick a cadence and stick to it. Sporadic sending confuses inbox algorithms and trains subscribers to forget about you. Whether it is weekly or twice a month, consistency keeps your domain reputation stable and your audience engaged.
Most people skim emails in under 10 seconds. Use short paragraphs, one idea per block, and a single clear CTA. If someone has to read the whole email to understand what you want them to do, the email is too long.
Open rates are unreliable since Apple MPP inflated them across the board. Click rates tell you more, but revenue per email sent tells you what matters. Tie your ESP data to your store or CRM so you see dollars, not vanity metrics.
A brand new domain has zero reputation. Start by sending small volumes to your most engaged contacts. Increase volume over 2-4 weeks. Sending 50,000 emails on day one from a cold domain is the fastest way to land in spam.
We implement all of these on every account we manage. Tell us about your current setup and we will show you what to fix first.